Okay so the end of this chapter was a royal pain in my arse to write but I got it done. Also had to had a shitload of fluff in there to reach my 8000 word minimum, but I got that done too. Can you tell how this going to end? :) ONLY A WEEK TILL THE DVD RELEASE!
So only three reviews for the last chapter? Is my writing getting worse or can I blame Channel Ten for the decrease? For the sake of my ego, I'll go with Channel Ten.
HappyHereford - now it all makes a heap more sense, considering how much you already know.
In A Rush - Oh! Oh! I just realised that you clicked on the crossover. haha. Don't worry Shannon will come clean to her mother, after I get through the prologue.
K - yeah, someone *coughs*In A Rush*coughs* and I were having a conversation and that came up. Figured it could work in the right context haha.
And now, I present to you chapter 25 of The High Life.
She had forgotten to close the blinds again the night before. The sun's rays were reflecting off the windows of the building across the road, shimmying its way into the far corner of the loft; right where her bed was. In her defence, she had been rather distracted with taking Shannon right then and there in the kitchen, living up to her promise to her girlfriend of weekend kitchen sex. The activity itself had tired her out long enough for the brunette to grab only a few hours sleep on and off while her girlfriend snoozed peacefully next to her. But after that her mind was too alert and awake and unable to be switched off for Stella to actually doze off before her alarm would echo loudly through the apartment, and no doubt give her another headache to last the day.
With less than a minute until her clock was set to go off, Stella turned it off to let Shannon sleep for just a little longer as she slinked into the bathroom to take a shower. Before she could drag herself to into the bathroom, Stella slid her balcony door open and popped her head over the concrete railing to see Connor standing on the footpath next to where his car had been the day before, with a coffee staring up at her apartment. When he noticed her watching him, with her arms crossed trying to keep the early morning chill away, he sent a small wave with the wiggle of his fingers and went back to the newspaper under his arm, walking off down the street confidently.
Stella sniffed, trying to keep the tears at bay. She had to run to the bathroom on her toes, avoiding the coffee table and the foot end of the bed and the pieces of clothing that had been strewn about the night before. As the cold tap was ignored, her skin became red with irritation from the scalding water. It released a small amount of tension from her shoulders that had been weighing her down since lunch the day before. Stella wasn't able to hold herself up for very long as the fear took over everything and her knees buckled, her naked body slid down the tiled wall shaking with sobs. Nothing in her head made any sense, but the one thing she knew was that she was in trouble. And for the first time in as long as she could remember, it wasn't her fault.
Stella's tears mixed with the water as it burned her skin uncomfortably. The water was the only thing holding her down, reminding her that this was all happening and of how scared she really was. Her arms were wrapped tightly at her knees, her lungs were burning from the lack of air she couldn't gulp in. Her cries were as silent as she could manage because if she woke Shannon, then she would have to explain why she was crying in the shower at six thirty in the morning. She would have to tell her girlfriend that Connor had directly threatened her life on behalf of her brothers screwed up debt to Anton Buczek. That was a can of worms she wasn't quite ready to open. There was a knock on the bathroom door, and it creaked open a few inches.
Shannon's voice, full of sleepiness and love, flittered though the layers of steam fogging up the bathroom. "Morning, Stel."
"Morning," she managed to get out roughly, in between her body wracking sobs and hiccups. Her girlfriend's voice had brought her out from her emotional trance, and the water hitting her body was suddenly too hot for her to handle. Stella had to snatch her hand up to balance out the temperature, and turn the cold tap on.
"You've been in there for almost half an hour. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute," Stella threw out, standing up slowly.
"Do you want a coffee?"
"Sure. Thanks," she called back.
She spent the next few minutes with her face under the spray, trying to let the puffiness and redness be washed away by the pressure. Turning the water off, Stella stepped out of the shower block of her bathroom, wrapped the worn fluffy towel around her thin frame and took in her reflection in the fogged up mirror. Now, Stella simply looked exhausted, instead of teary eyes and upset. As she left the bathroom, whatever weight that had been removed was dumped back on; Stella felt forced to put on a fake smile in front of Shannon.
Shannon had her back to Stella, mixing up sugar and coffee in mugs and waiting for the kettle to boil, turning around when the bathroom door was opened on squeaky hinges, to see her girlfriend pad across the loft in nothing but a towel, wearing a smile that was not Stella's usual morning grin. So much for trying to hide anything from the woman. Stella melted into Shannon's open arms with a huff, causing the older woman to chuckle.
"You okay?" Shannon asked, pulling back to run her thumbs across the skin beneath Stella's grey orbs. She could see the bags marring the skin, and the redness in the whites of her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm just tired," Stella smiled and went on nonchalantly. "Some girl kept me up for most of last night. Wore me out pretty good, too."
Shannon let out a confident laugh, and lifted her hand to scratch at the brunette's hairline at the base of her neck. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. I'm going to be sore for a week at least," she gloated, pretending to stretch out her muscles.
"Ahh. All in a day's work." Shannon crackled her knuckles jokingly, behind Stella's back before pressing a kiss to a damp and bare shoulder. She watched proudly at Stella giggled away wholeheartedly, without what appeared to be a care in the world.
"What?" Stella asked, her chuckles mostly subsiding and noticing at Shannon stared at her.
"Nothing." Shannon shook her head, only to continue admiring Stella's beauty.
"Seriously, what?" the brunette pushed.
"It's just, it feels like I have seen you laugh so easily or smile so big in a long, long time."
"Yeah, I know. It kinda sucks," Stella admitted. "But you know what would cheer me up considerably?"
"What?"
"Kiss me," she demanded. "Preferably before you go and have a shower otherwise we will be late for work."
Shannon complied with the simple request without argument, letting her lips brush against Stella's gently, her tongue stretching out slowly past the edges of her own mouth. Smirking into the kiss, Shannon's hands, left the curve of Stella's neck and pulled gently at the end of the towel with the intention of removing it. Before the knot could be fully undone, Stella managed to twist away from the hands with a cheeky smile, effectively preventing Shannon from leaving her naked in the middle of the kitchen.
"No," she said. "Now that I've gotten my morning kiss, you have to go and have a shower."
"I know that that isn't all of it," Shannon said, remembering the words Stella had once said to her. "I know that you're not telling me everything. But I won't push you to tell me what it is unless..."
"Unless what?" Stella asked.
"Unless I feel I need too. Or I feel I have to. I'm worried about you, Stel," Shannon said, rubbing her thumbs along the bags under Stella's eyes again.
"This bullshit with Frank is more pressure and anxiety and scariness than I want."
"You know you can tell me anything right?" Shannon asked. When she didn't quite get the answer she had been looking for, Shannon felt her heart sink.
"I know. It's one of those things I love about you." Stella nodded, smiled sadly and pressed another kiss to Shannon's lips. "Shower."
"I will in a minute," Shannon agreed, wrapping her arms around Stella as the brunette turned to face the counter and the appliances littering its surface. "I got you a present."
As Stella leant back into Shannon's body, setting about making a piece of toast for breakfast, a thought crossed her mind. "A present? It's not my birthday, Christmas isn't for a few more days, it isn't our anniversary yet. What am I missing?"
"Very funny, babe," Shannon said, laughing at Stella's theatricality. She pulled her gift from the pocket of the tracky pants she had worn to bed. "I wanted you to have this."
It was a long thin silver chain, with a ring hanging loosely. Stella looked at it curiously, lifting both of her hands to take her new piece of jewellery as Shannon's chin came to rest on her shoulder. "This is your celibacy ring."
"Yep. It sounds really cheesy, but it became really important to me before and when we first started dating. After my vow, you were the one that I chose to give myself to you. You gave me your necklace because it means something to you, it's important to you. Well this ring holds that same kind of significance for me. I want you to have it."
"Thank you," Stella said, her voice full of sincerity. Looking over, Stella smiled genuinely at her girlfriend before slipping it over her head to let the cool metal come to rest within the valley of her breasts. "I think I'm rubbing off on you. With the whole cheesiness stuff. And it's a good thing you put it on a necklace, otherwise it might be a bit suss if I rock up to work wearing your ring."
Shannon chuckled nervously and squeezed her arms briefly around Stella's waist. "It looks good on you."
"It's a gift," Stella said, turning around and having to keep a hold of the towel where it bunched across her chest. "I love it, really. Thank you. It means something to you, so I'm proud that you trust me with it."
Stella turned, stroking the side of her girlfriend's face. "I love you," Shannon whispered. "So much."
"I love you too," Stella replied, giving her a quick kiss. "Now go and have a shower, or we will be late."
Shannon checked the clock, yelped out an 'oh shit', and ducked off to the bathroom to have one of the quickest shower she could manage. It wasn't long, mainly because Stella had gone through most of the hot water, crying her eyes out under the spray. Stella managed to finish her toast and get halfway dressed before her girlfriend emerged from the bathroom in a flurry. She was able to slow down long enough to see the smile on Stella's face and take in her girlfriend in a bra and jeans. There was a smack that echoed through the loft as Shannon's hand connected with a back pocket on Stella's jeans, before they noticed the time again and had to rush off.
They jumped into car and sped away, Stella taking notice of Connor again. He was leaning against the outer pillar of a small business complex; hidden partially from the view of Shannon as she focused on getting them through the morning traffic, Stella's eyes following him until they couldn't anymore as they drove past. It was as if he was just walking around the block with the hopes alone that the brunette would catch a glimpse of him and feel a fresh bout of terror. He was right in one aspect for the idea; but she couldn't help but wonder how many times he had circled the outer city block that morning along. That brought Stella a small amount of joy.
"What are you doing?" Shannon asked, quickly glancing at Stella. The brunette was squeezing their hands regularly, looking out the window with curiosity and worry.
"Thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself," said Shannon, earning a scoffing laugh from her girlfriend.
"Hey, I can think without anyone getting hurt in the process. It's Lawson's thoughts you have to look out for," Stella explained.
"What is going through your head?"
"You."
"What about me?"
Stella took a few moments in silence. "How much are you paying for rent each month on your place? Fifteen hundred?"
"Something pretty close to that," Shannon said slowly. "Any particular reason you're asking about my finances?"
"Well," the brunette began. It was working its way to becoming an awkward conversation. "I pay just over twelve a month. We spend all of our time together as it is."
"Are you asking me if I would want to move in with you?" Shannon asked, effectively ending her girlfriends babbling mumbles.
"Well, yeah." Stella shrugged.
"How long have you been thinking about this?"
"Just a few days. It's alright if you don't want too."
Shannon laughed. "Baby? Babbling. As cute as your babbling is, please. Stop. It's not that I don't want to move in with you, but do you really think we are ready?" Shannon asked with some uncertainty, remembering a few times off the top of her head where they had argued over the tiniest thing and spent the night apart.
"Yes," Stella said, her tone strong and confident.
"Why do you think so?" Shannon wasn't harsh or demanding in her answer, simply curious, like a mother trying to figure out the logic to a child's mind.
"Because I want to wake up to you every morning in the same bed without having to worry if I've checked my mail and paid the bills for my own apartment. I don't want to miss out on a few extra seconds or minutes or hours with you, because it means I have to go home to do whatever there. I want to be in a place that is ours, not yours and not mine, but ours." Stella's voice had gone from crackling to strong and confident about expressing her desire to live together to become quiet with unsureness. "Plus we practically already live together, so it means we could save a bunch of money. Most of my stuff is already at your place. It kinda makes sense."
"One word," Shannon said. "PMS."
Shannon pulled into the car park closest to the door she could find, killed the engine and got out of the car, leaving Stella to sit there momentarily stunned. She followed a moment later, weighed down with the feeling of embarrassment and slight disappointment, with a sliver of curiosity over the PMS comment. While the two of their bodies were synced within a day or two, it was generally the reasoning behind most, if not all, of their tiffs which were forgotten about with some tim-tams and cuddling. But her negative emotions were blown to pieces when she saw Shannon heading into the garage backwards with a smile.
"You do raise some pretty good points," Shannon said. "It sounds like a really good idea. We'll talk details after work, okay?"
"Really?" Stella asked. "For a moment there I thought you were going to say no."
"NO!" Shannon laughed, standing in the middle of the car park as Christian was dropped off by his wife, Annie.
"We're late!" Christian said, running past them into the base. They laughed at him and waved at Annie as she drove past.
"We've been together for a while now. I agree with what you said. It's nice to wake up to you, and not have to worry about anything else. In any of my past relationships, I usually broke up with the guy just so I wouldn't have to commit like this. But there is just something about you Stella Dagostino," Shannon growled playfully. Stella grinned as largely as she could. "So yes. I would love to move in with you. And you started this conversation, so it is now your fault that we are late."
Shannon turned on the ball of her foot, and jogged into the locker room, leaving her girlfriend standing alone and slightly dumbfounded. Stella's face dropped when Kerry had asked her why she was late, retracted her question, and continued to scold her. Again. And Michael and Josh had laughed at her. Again. Until they noticed the content smile on the young Senior Constables face and began making joking comments about her love life.
"I'll be there in a minute!" Stella yelled out down the corridor after their briefing had finished. She turned on her heel, let herself into Kerry's office and shut the door behind her. "Can I have a quick word?"
"If this is about your tardiness, I don't want to know."
"Finally, a boss that doesn't want to know specifically why I was thirty seconds late," Stella commented. "But it's not about that."
"Fine. Make it quick, you're meant to be out on patrol." Kerry didn't even look up from the paperwork she was skimming over to sign.
"It's about Frank and Connor." That was what got the Inspectors attention. Kerry nodded for the Senior Constable to continue and Stella leant against the back of a chair opposite her boss. "Connor may have, kind of threatened me yesterday."
"What?" came back at her angrily. "How dare he. What did he say?"
"Turns out Frank is in debt, that's why Buczek has had someone hassling him. And because Connor knows on behalf of Buczek, that I know about the basics of anything going on between them, I am now Frank's collateral."
"Collateral?"
"Frank has a week to pay his debt off to Buczek, or I get the short end of the stick so to speak. Connor wants me to play messenger and tell Frank about his deadline, but I was specifically told to stay away from my brother." Stella's voice cracked with her last words. "If it all goes to hell, anything that happens to me will simply be in order to teach Frank a lesson."
"You should have told me about this yesterday, Stella," Kerry sighed, dropping back into her seat. "We could have organised some protection."
"You saw what 'protection' did when Sam Stone was stalking me, Kerry." The fear suddenly became very obvious on Stella's face as she stared at her boss. "Anyways, if I can't get to Frank to tell him that he has until the end of the week to pay the biggest crime lord in Victoria, I don't see what good protection will do. If Buczek wants someone dead, it happens. You know that."
"Yeah, yeah. This getting way too far out of control. The shit is going to hit the fan very soon." Kerry was looking back at Stella with very little sympathy and the same amount of fear for her Senior Constable. Not that she would ever admit it in front of anyone, but Stella was actually her favourite of the junior officers, Leon included due to his childish mentality.
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Does Shannon know about the threat?"
"No," Stella answered quickly. "And she's not going to, if I can help it. She already knows too much, and if I told her about the threat I would probably be in a house right now. I'm just not sure if it would be the dog house or a safe house. I told you because you know about Frank and you are my boss."
"You should be in a safe house. You know that right?" Kerry asked.
"Yes I do, but if I agree to that and you take me off the job right now, Frank is fucked."
"He already is."
"But not as badly. He's going to be in shit no matter how this all goes down, Kerry. As much as I despise the creature that is apparently my brother, he is still my brother. I have to do something even if that means going behind ESD's back or whatever." Stella was practically pleading with her superior now.
"You realise that I can't go see him without them picking me up for something, right?" Kerry asked.
"Yes I know."
"And I can't tell ESD that you've been threatened because then we couldn't tell Frank without tipping him off about him being investigated. And on top of that, they would probably charge you with obstruction or something for now being entirely honest in that interview."
"Yeah, I know."
"You have a shift to start. There's nothing we can do at this point. You just be bloody careful out there!" Kerry warned her. "If you do anything stupid, I'll kill you myself. You got it?"
"Yeah I know. I'll add yours to my list of threats." She turned on her heel again and made a beeline for the door.
"Stella," Kerry called out. The brunettes turned around to face her boss. "You can be really stupid sometimes y'know? Why would you let yourself get involved with this?"
"What can I say?" she shrugged. "I'm a magnet for trouble. It runs in the family."
With their conversation over, Stella jogged down to the cars to begin the eight hour shift. For the entire morning, nothing was able to remove the forced happiness playing openly across Stella face. When she was put into TR2 with Shannon and Josh, she actually had to fight with herself, not to let her grin get any bigger or else the team leader would definitely be asking questions.
It was the second day in a row for the Tactical Response teams in which they had a quiet morning. And by quiet, it meant that they were called to attend one, maybe two jobs, instead of the usual half a dozen. Leon was telling Michael of his internet date the night before, only to get shut down by Audrey a few minutes later when she corrected his fictitious story. Stella had laughed whole heartedly, until Josh instructed her to take the car past a local Mob hangout and do a couple circles of the block.
From her seat in the back, behind Josh, Shannon was able to see Stella's carefree albeit still professional smile drop and disappear from view completely. She had noticed it the moment she had seen Stella waddling under the weight of the duffle bags back at base after their shift had ended. And it didn't look like she had simply had a bad shift, or had too much on her mind. Shannon liked to think that she could read Stella's emotions to an extent, after their ten months of being in a relationship together. But in the past fifteen hours, a mask had slipped over the brunettes face, blocking out Shannon's curious eyes and worried thoughts.
Dinner had been even quieter than normal; as soon as they had finished their shared cook meal, Stella had curled up against Shannon just like she did when there was a thunderstorm raging over their heads. After the dishes had been washed and their bodies had met against the bench, there was an aspect of the sex Stella had been the one to initiate that felt forced; as if she was holding something back, keeping something a secret. Between the two of them, their feelings had always been put up for display in a fit of raw passion which saw their clothes ripped and moans erupt and shudders of release against the damp sheets. But the night before had been anything but raw passion.
"Like a couple of flies on a shit heap," Josh said, scoffing as they spotted Connor and Udinov doing what appeared to be some business with locals.
Stella let out a chuckle, checking her mirror as they passed the black Range Rover at the designated speed of fifty kilometres. Connor was yelling at his Russian bodyguard and right hand man to leave the supplier they had been hassling, and to get his arse into the car. For a Monday morning, the streets were rather full of pedestrians and the beginning of the last minute Christmas shoppers and the occasional dog walker. Few uniformed officers roamed the local shopping centre around the corner for any holiday loitering.
"Stel, you alright?" she asked, for the second time in under three hours. The lack of crimes to investigate or attend was beginning to bore Shannon as well, leaving her with the majority of her shift to gaze around aimlessly at the passing scenery and be able to think deep and meaningful thoughts.
"Yeah. I told you before, I'm just tired." Stella had looked over her shoulder at her girlfriend, offering an almost comforting smile, as they were stopped at another red light.
Josh laughed and smirked. "What? You get a little some'in', some'in' last night, Stel?"
"Can't I rock up to work tired and genuinely happy without you and monkey-boy thinking that I had sex the night before?" she asked, watching Josh more that the traffic.
"Eyes on the road," Shannon called from the backseat.
"Nope," said Josh, facing the brunette. "And don't avoid the question."
"Alright, fine. Yes I am tired because I got laid last night," Stella admitted, with a defeated sigh.
"You're looking a little tired back there too, Shan. Anything we need to know?"
"Need to know or want to know?" she retaliated, lowering her head and doing a mental recap on whether or not she had put enough makeup on to cover the bags growing under her eyes.
"Both," said Stella. Ganging up on Shannon occasionally was a part of the reason they hadn't been caught. By pretending to play dumb around the boys about each other's relationships, any conclusions that their colleagues may have come up with was completely, or at least mostly dismissed. She still had an inkling that Josh had a pretty good idea of her relationship with Shannon.
"We want to know, therefore we need to know," said Josh.
"No, I didn't have sex last night."
The jokes and insults continued well after lunch, when Leon had become involved, and by default the boys in TR1 as they had listened in on their radios. Their fun was interrupted by Lawson when the Senior Sergeant declared that he didn't want to or need to know about Stella's sex life, especially when he knew better. Being a bloke, and the one who still fancied Shannon, he didn't attempt to stop the images that floated into his mind temporarily when the topic's sexual nature had first come up. But he had been pulled back to reality when VKC had called through on the radio and requested them at a house fire.
"So have you asked her yet?" Shannon asked from the backseat.
Josh faltered for a moment. "What is this? Rag on Josh day or something?"
"Hey, you started it asking about our sex lives," Shannon replied. She could see Stella do a double take at the mention of the words 'sex' and 'lives' in the same sentence. There was a split second where she thought 'life' was going to be said, and then that would have opened up a whole nother can of worms to deal with.
"You guys are going to want to check this out," said Leon, his fingers flying across his keyboard and the sound coming through on his earpiece.
"What's going on Leon?" Josh asked, with gratefulness in his voice for their conversation ending so suddenly.
"A silent alarm has just gone off at one of Anton Buczek's lesser used warehouse properties."
Stella's stomach dropped three feet, and she resisted the urge to bang her hand against the steering wheel in frustration. She wanted to get away from all of the bullshit; a holiday crossed her mind, or maybe annual leave.
"We haven't gotten a call about it yet." A few seconds later the request from VKC came through on the radio, and Josh answered it immediately as Leon began talking.
"That's because when Kerry told me to make some notes about Connor and Buczek, I may have applied a-."
"English Leon," Josh demanded. "Which warehouse?"
"Warehouse E, Coleman's Circuit, Carrum Downs. And I was speaking English, thank you very much."
"Fuckin' hell."
"Road trip!" Stella said, attempting to mask her fear.
"Alright, hit it Stel. Get up down there," Josh instructed as he turned on the sirens and lights, while Shannon pulled out the melways from under the driver's seat. "Fine, Layman's terms then Leon."
"I get a pop-up on my system when this sort of shit happens, okay?"
"That's all you needed to say then, Leon. What's so special about this warehouse?"
"Nothing, that's the thing. As far as I can tell, there are no notes from any divisions about what might be in there."
"If it's a warehouse, shouldn't there be freight paperwork, or something from shipping or courier companies, something like that?"
"You're right, there should be. But there isn't. My guess is that's like a backup warehouse just in case any of his other ones get raided or something."
"Or he uses to, ahh, interrogate any of his competition or enemies," Stella threw in.
"Now that makes more sense," Shannon said. "Is it such a good idea for us to be going down there is Stella is on both ESD's and Connor's watch lists? I mean I know that we're trying to stir the pot a little bit, but-"
"We're just having a look." Josh's tone was full of authority. "If we need to a search of the place, just be extra vigilant. Alright?"
Stella nodded along with Josh's suggestion, not game enough to sneak a look at Shannon in the back seat. "What are the chances that this is a false alarm?"
"Slim to nil, you know that."
"And if we get jumped?" Stella asked.
"We arrest them on the spot. I don't care what ESD says, or what Connor Barry says. As far as we know there has been a break in. Our job is to investigate that and see if any criminal activity outside of Buczek's bullshit has gone on. Alright?" He said. "Look, I know that you're under the gun a bit here, but we got your back in this. We protect our own, Stel."
As she sat in the backseat, everything that could and had a good chance of actually going wrong ran through Shannon's mind. Fiddling with the cross that hung from the necklace around her neck, she listened to Leon and Josh argue and discuss the basics; latest grudge against Buczek; who has access to the warehouse; who from the mob might be there when they arrived. She knew that she was nervous, but like her first day on the job with Tactical Response, Shannon hid any emotions written across her face and refused to let her mind wander to Stella. If she did, it was highly possible that she would demand the vehicle be turned around, or that Stella be taken off this particular run.
The brunette driving was trying to use the activity to distract her for the thirty minute drive down to Carrum Down. On the outside, Stella appeared to be only a little worried about being on Anton Buczek's property after the threat she had received the day before from Connor. On the inside, she could honestly admit it in her own mind that she what this close to shitting herself. But she wouldn't admit it to her two colleague in the car with her. Then she would have to come clean about the threat, and after worrying about it, Shannon would probably do Connor's job for him and kill Stella herself. If she admitted the threat, she would have to admit that her brother was the dirty cop involved. And then who knew what would happen. How she would be viewed by her team mates, by her girlfriend, the rest of the police force.
This whole aspect of Stella's life: it sucked!
In the thirty minutes they spend in the car, having pulled over once to pull out the computer pad to receive intel from Leon too large for their phones, the trio had managed to come up with a rough plan in case anything were to go wrong. With the sensitivity of the situation, a high profile crime boss owning the property they were checking out, it was a necessity to have their routes memorized. Their civilian Intelligence Officer had given them the floor plans and photographs, access points into and out of the building, as well as the basic information that had come from the uniformed officers that had been the first to arrive. The police officers from the Carrum Downs police station had been under strict orders to wait for the TR team to arrive before anything happened.
When they pulled up at the warehouse at three thirty in the early Monday afternoon sun, there was a single marked police car resting in the driveway it had been backed into a good forty minutes earlier. It's two officers were leaning against the bonnet of the vehicle, giving rather nasty greasy looks in the direction of TR2 as it parked adjacent to the building, rather than in the bays assigned for parking. The warehouses behind them were packed tightly against each other, no space separating the pale coloured buildings.
"Tossers," Josh muttered, pushing himself out of the car to greet the officers. "Alright. Who are you two?"
"Constables Adrian Cooper and Duncan Tate," said Cooper, addressing himself and then the taller blonde man next to him.
"Senior Sergeants Josh, Henry. Senior Constable Dagostino. Tactical Response."
"It's a simple 'b' and 'e'. Why do we need you guys to do a check over the place?" Cooper threw out.
"Because of who owns it," said Stella. She looked at them with curiosity and anger. "Have you guys just been sitting on your arses for the past forty five minutes?"
"That's what we were told to do. VKC requested that we sit on our arses while the three of you decided to take your time getting down here."
"Rookies. Either too cocky or too stupid," Stella whispered to her girlfriend as she opened the boot.
"We weren't exactly close. Did you at least do a perimeter check?" Shannon asked.
The three TR members were circling the car, scanning the stretch of road in the industrial area, going back to maps in the back of the car and finally pulling several bulletproof vests out of one of the bags. The entire strip of road, warehouses on both sides was completely deserted. There were no other cars in sight, nor a single person working, no machinery running, not plants on nature strips or even a tumbleweed rolling in the wind. Every building was shut up tight with very little advertising displayed, with the exception of company logos above administrative entrances. There were windows were windows above the doors, indicating that the buildings themselves were close to three stories tall with offices upstairs.
"It's a straight road; we can see the whole perimeter."
"Idiot. There's a back entrance for every one of these warehouses. You follow the road around and you'll see a four meter high garage door for every one of them."
"How was I supposed to know that?" Cooper sniped back. Tate had yet to say anything, quite happy to stand at the back and let his partner do the talking.
"You do a bloody perimeter check." Stella went along to hand the vests out to Shannon and Josh. "This place is too big for three people to search. Put your vests on. You're coming in with us."
"This is a great way to end out the shift," Shannon commented, pulling the semi-automatic rifle and locking its pieces into position, clearing the shaft and making sure the magazine was full.
"Typical uni's," Josh muttered under his breath.
"I don't like this," Shannon said.
Stella looked at her, pulling her tactical vest back on over her ballistics on. "What?" she asked, momentarily struggling to zip it up. Shannon turned around and had to zip it up for her, Stella gave her thanks with, what looked like to Josh, a friendly smile. Her eyes, however, began a private conversation with her girlfriend; giving an admission of her love silently and apologising for letting her family and colleagues dragged into the entire situation, despite knowing as little detail as they did.
"It's too quiet and deserted for four o'clock on a Monday afternoon."
"Christmas is only a few days away, any workers are probably all gone for the holidays," Josh suggested. "But you are right, there should be a couple cars at least."
"It feels like we're being watched."
"We're cops that have just rocked up to one of Anton Buczek's lesser used properties where an alarm has just gone off, Shan. One of his lap dogs have probably come down to check on it," Josh explained.
"You were right," Stella said, double checking the rifle for Shannon. "We are being watched. Upstairs window of warehouse F, one male. All I got is an outline, windows are too dark for any specifics."
"He still there?" Josh asked.
"Nah, he's gone."
"Hey! Get over here," said Josh, to the uniformed officers. He dropped the computer tablet containing the map in front of them onto the bags just as Tate and Cooper came to a stop behind them, still doing up their vests. "Alright, since you two are in such a lovely mood this afternoon," he said to Shannon and Stella, "you and Cooper are going to take this entrance at the back. Me and Tate will take the one at the front, clear the offices and then head into the warehouse."
"Any idea how it's set up in there?" Tate asked, finally opening his mouth for the first time since TR arrived. At least he was applying some level of attention.
"Not a clue," Josh replied. "You three take TR2 and hoof it around the back. We go in on my signal."
Cooper jumped into TR2 without another word, leaving Tate to offer a polite smile and follow Josh to the front door, lugging the drill that would take the lock from the door and allow them entry. Stella slammed the boot shut and took her place in the driver's seat.
"If this is just a 'b' and 'e', why do we need vests?" Cooper asked. His voice was becoming rather annoying to the women sitting in the front as the car started off to take the bed a few hundred meters up the road.
"Anton Buczek owns the building. We don't know what has happened in the past fifty minutes, if anything has in fact gone on in there. And don't say it's because VKC requested you sit your arse on your car," Shannon explained, interrupting Cooper as he went to make a remark. "On top of that, due to Buczek's position in society, if whoever broke in in the first place is still in there we could be met with some hostility. If we are, you do as I say. Do you understand?"
"Go Kerry," Stella said, when the car had been in silence for a few seconds, waiting for Cooper to reply.
Shannon looked at her girlfriend with minor insult and shock. "Shut up."
"Who's Anton Buczek?" he asked, stupidly. "And yes I understand. But humour me and fill me in alright princess."
"Russian Mob and crime lord," Stella said. "And don't call her princess."
"Suit yourself."
It was a long forty second drive to follow the road around in the TR vehicle as fast as Stella would allow, and having Constable Cooper in the backseat only made it worse. Stella felt as if her life could be sitting in the unexperienced officer's hands; as if she was facing a thousand members of the firing squad and there was a guarantee that at least one person got their target.
The rear end of the industrial road was very similar to the front, with the exception of the four meter high garage door Josh had described in place of the small standard door used for foot traffic. The set of warehouses that contained Buczek's own backed on to an empty landscape, dry and hot in the early Australian summer. The closest road was close to a kilometre away, showing only how deserted the area truly was.
"Josh, we got a vehicle here. Leon, Mitsibishi business van. Number plate is Echo Golf Bravo Nine Four Zero," Shannon announced into her radio. There was a white vehicle sitting outside the loading bay, the back doors to the garage door open wide for anyone nearby to have a look at what might be hidden inside.
"When we go in, I'll take point. Cooper you're the middle. Stel, you bring up the end." Shannon turned in her seat to face the Constable. "You do as we say, when we say it."
Cooper simply nodded as the TR car came to a screeching halt under Stella's foot, no more than ten feet from the van. Within seconds, the two TR members and the uniformed officer had jumped from the car just before it had come to a full stop, and they were already determining who would take which position around the van, to perform an immediate search. With a silent nod, both Shannon and Stella agreed that it was as deserted as the rest of the estate.
"It's clear," Stella said. "Waiting for your signal, Josh."
Stella took up a position by the backside of the door, for side entry and common foot traffic, while Shannon and Cooper took the other, ready to rush into the building when the Senior Constable opened the door for them.
"Three, two, one!"
Stella tugged the door handle, yanking it from its frame and allowing Shannon to enter. It took a strong nod of the head from Stella to get Cooper to follow her a second later. With her weapon drawn, Stella paused unintentionally to take in the overwhelming size of the interior. The outside did absolutely no justice, and it seemed to be absolutely huge. Stepping into the room, it appeared to be what looked like a disused courier distribution factory; with pallets and empty crates stacked high on the heavy duty shelves, machinery and forklifts parked neatly under tarps in a corner, the rest of the space filled with stages cordoned off for individual delivery areas.
"This is going to take too long to search," Shannon said. "Josh, I think we use some help down here. This place is too big."
"Yeah, I can see that. We're on the second storey, front end of the offices," he explained, voice coming through slightly garbled and muffled. From the position they had taken from behind the closest side of the stage, giving the trio only a partial view of the area that lay ahead of them, they could hear Josh yell for someone to stop.
Stella aimed her comment at Shannon, but with Cooper there with them it was hard to do so without her words being questioned. "I guess that would be the guy I saw hanging around in the window earlier. Leon, are there any security camera's in this place?"
"What guy?" Cooper asked.
The uniformed constable was ignored as Leon's reply came through. "Yeah but only on the exterior of the entrances. There's nothing inside at all. You're flying blind guys."
"What's the status of the van?"
"Stolen two days ago. Well, the plates specifically which match a green new model Holden owned by a Robert Maloney in Geelong."
"What's going on?"
"If I tell you to shut up, are you going to do it?" Shannon asked. "It's need to know and no offence kid, but you don't need to know. Go to the end of this stage and have a little look around. See if you can see anything."
"Fair enough," he shrugged, huffing along with what he was told and shuffling around Stella to do what Shannon had instructed him to do.
"If you can get access to the camera footage, go through and try to identify who left the car there. It might be the guy Josh is chasing."
"Got it," the tech-head said."
It was very obvious to Stella that temperatures were definitely running high for her girlfriend, and there was no doubt in her mind that she had something to do with it. "This is stupid," the brunette said, looking up at the warehouse room.
"What is?"
"This is an unused building where the alarm has gone off, as far as we know there is only one guy here, so why are all of the lights on is this place?"
"Josh, you got him?" Shannon asked.
"Nup. He disappeared into one of these bloody office cubicles. Keep an eye out down there; one male offender, approximately six foot three, muscular build. No facial description as of yet." His voice disappeared and left the two of them with a silent greeting, both women looking at each other.
"You're the boss, what do you want to do?" Stella asked, looking at Shannon who appeared to be lost in thought as she planned their next move. As they kneeled there in silence for a few moments, Stella was wishing that she was the one with the rifle instead of her Glock. They were only supposed to be clearing the warehouse in response to the silent alarm going off, yet they were treating it like a raid on a suspect's property.
"You take Mister Trigger-Happy over there and do a quick search of the south side, I'll take the north," Shannon explained. "Don't take your eyes off him, and do not be afraid to shoot him."
"Thanks for your permission," Stella scoffed, sarcastically. She lowered her voice, "you know, I would kiss you right now if we didn't have company."
"Yeah. I would kiss me too," Shannon chuckled, winking at her girlfriend. "Be careful?"
"Always," Stella agreed. "You too, alright."
"Like I'm not usually," Shannon replied, before turning away from the brunette and disappearing past a set of steel stairs leading up and onto the stage they were hiding behind.
Stella watched her for the a few lasting seconds, before heading in the opposite direction. She patted Cooper on the shoulder to announce her presence. "Anything?" Just as she spoke, there was a distant crashing sound of wood hitting the concrete floor heavily a few aisles over to their right in the shelving that was off to the far side of the warehouse.
"Just that," he answered, lifting a hand in the rough direction it had come from.
"Alright, I'm going to take the lead. Here's the basics. Wherever I'm not looking, you look. When I pass you, you drop your weapon. Silent communication, you tap me on the shoulder and then you point. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," he answered. It seemed as if the banging noise from the crates and Josh's earlier screams had gotten through to him that the situation was serious, and possibly very dangerous.
"Let's go." Stella sprinted to the cover of the closest isle, ducking her head around the corner for a quick looksee. As far as she could tell, it was completely empty, but there were plenty of hiding places anyone could be, lying in wait to attack for their chance to evade custody. "We got aisle by isle."
Cooper simply nodded and took his lead from Stella, lowering his weapon like he was told, staying silent like he was told. They had gone past wooden pallet after wooden pallet, tarp after tarp, crate after crate. They had been walking down the first aisle they were searching for going on five minutes, aiming their weapons high and low as they went before anything of significance became apparent. The constable covering Stella's back tapped her on the shoulder incessantly.
"What is it?" She hissed.
"I saw something out of the corner of my eye."
"What?"
"Movement, a shadow maybe."
"Where?"
"Tarp, about seven meters down on the left."
Stella took a few seconds to attach her torch to the underside of the barrel on her gun. The layout and positioning of the shelves was completely inappropriate for Stella's search job; the rows of industrial lights hanging overhead were sitting directly above the two meter wide shelves, creating sharp angles of darkness on both sides of them.
With her weapon raised again and an addition source of focused light, she inched forward. "Give me some space. Cover me from that crate," she whispered, with a nudge of her head off to her right.
He whispered back his compliance and took up his place behind the crate hanging off the bottom shelf half a foot from the floor. Seven meters down the aisle, there was the slightest shift in the shadows and her senses increased tenfold. "If anyone is there, come out slowly with your hands up," she instructed.
Halfway on her journey to the tarp, she heard the distinct sound of a shoe being swept across a dusty floor. She was about to call for them to show themselves again, when there was another sound from behind her; the dull thud of something heavy coming into contact with someone's skull. Stella spun around fast enough to see the last few inches of what looked like a baseball bat retracting back into the darkness, Cooper still on his way unconsciously to floor completely limp.
She went straight to her radio. "Officer down. I got an offic-." Her attention became frayed as a familiar voice called out to her. When she turned around, there was a sharp pain in her head, and her world went dark.
Well well well. Got questions? I know I do. Who attacked Stella? What's going to happen to her? Well, I know that last one, but I haven't decided on that first one just yet.
And thanks to In A Rush for the help naming the dummy uni's.